Violence Response: Share and Care program

Psychological Trauma Center (PTC) counselors provide a series of school-based interventions which provides counseling, case management, art therapy, and other mental health services to students at their school. These services have been provided in Los Angeles area schools for several years.

This unique program, identifies and helps children who have experienced trauma, violence or stress, which has interfered with their ability to learn. Groups are established to help children develop a level of trust and community where they can feel safe to share their experiences, worries and fears. The majority of the children seen in these groups find themselves alone with their concerns with no one to share with. For example, one group of seven (7) children was asked to draw someone they can talk to at home or at school They gave the following responses:

  • My dog
  • My teddy bear
  • No one
  • The tree in my yard
  • My imaginary friend
  • Nobody
  • My doll
  • "When I am sad, I talk to my friend, the penguin."

How sad to see that not one child included a parent, aunt, grandparent, teacher or friend.

The Objectives:

The objectives of the Share and Care Program are to provide school-based mental health interventions and learning supports that (1) assist students in staying in school, (2) increase the youth's coping mechanisms for dealing with violence and trauma, and (3) increase the young student's well being, social skills and functioning within their family and school environments. Services are predominantly provided to vulnerable, low income, elementary-age children (ages 5 - 11).

The Program:

The primary intervention of the Share and Care Program is an art therapy group. Each student participates in a weekly Share and Care Group that is supervised by licensed, license-eligible or a State-registered intern (MFT or LCSW).

Group session consists of a series of twelve art therapy-focused groups. The 12 sessions are each approximately one hour in length and are composed of up to eight children and Center staff. Each session focuses on a different topic and is directed towards the life experience of the children. The groups combine discussion and drawing activities offering the children an opportunity to express issues such as: the scariest thing or most exciting thing that has happened to them; issues related to friends, families and schools; how they develop good relationships; appropriate and inappropriate ways of expressing anger and how to say goodbye. These are only a few examples of topics that are dealt with on a weekly basis. Services are provided more frequently, if the needs of the student or their school dictate this increased frequency. Individual sessions are provided, when needed, along with family sessions,. The social dynamics in such groups have proven to be highly effective in promoting articulation of feelings and concerns, fostering positive coping skills, supporting optimum healing from traumatic events and actuating healthy, productive social and school functioning.

Children are referred to groups by their teachers, parents and through self-referral. Many of the children seen have experienced the death of a relative, domestic violence at home, parents with an alcohol or drug problem and/or a parent that is incarcerated. Through their drawings, children have shared the following painful issues:

  • My father got drunk last night and the police made him leave the country.
  • My baby cousin died yesterday.
  • My daddy does not want to live with us anymore so we have to move to a different apartment because we cannot afford the one we live in now. I tried to talk to my daddy but he pushed me away.
  • The police came last night and put my mother in handcuffs and took her to jail.
  • My daddy shot my mother's boyfriend.
  • My mommy is sick, I am scared she will die.

As you can see, school children are often confronted with emotional, stressful situations that fill their hearts and minds, making learning a difficult task for them. It is the hope of the Psychological Trauma Center that children in need will be given a second chance by having a positive experience with a trained counselor who is able to listen and guide them through rough situations. These positive emotional experiences are needed to help a child deal with frightening scary situations and to move past the pain and trauma they might be experiencing in order to turn their learning experience into a rewarding successful one.

For additional information on the Violence Response/Share and Care program, please contact us.